Chemical Engineering Overview - Overview PDF - PowerPoint - Podcast

	B.S. - Chemical Engineering, University of California, Davis
	Business coordinator involved with business planning and financial management
	"I think sometimes you need to step back and enjoy life a little and get the whole college experience. Take some classes that you really want to take. Join a club. Be active in the community."

"My title currently is. I help to coordinate generation of business plans which really set our goals and objectives of the refinery. Work with our individual business units which are operating plants, and, I help to prioritize projects in the refinery, what work we need to be doing and then help to secure funding."

Q: What skills did you learn as a chemical engineer that prepared you for this job?
Murphy: For my current position, business coordination, it was more the soft skills that I learned in school- the technical writing, the leadership through AIChE and other organizations, public speaking, debate, and group communications. Those are the skills I utilize now, since I help to coordinate, as well as give leadership to other folks in the organization as their supervisor.

Q: Is managing people difficult?
Murphy: I think one of the biggest changes you have to face when you're trying to supervise folks is that you're used to doing it your way. And you think that's the optimal way, that's the best way. And when you're trying to supervise other folks, you have to realize that there's more than one way to approach something, there's more than one way to complete a project. So you have to give your people the leeway to do it, and know that the end result is going to be accomplished. It may not have been your way, but it is going to work. Then you need to encourage them, because you need to encourage that creativity. You were encouraged when you were in that position, hopefully. I give them the support that they need, and if I don't feel that's going to work, we talk about it and maybe suggest a second way.

Q: What kind of skills does a chemical engineer bring to management that some other disciplines might not be as familiar with?
Murphy: I think, in general, engineering uses the process of approaching problems in a systematic way, thinking through the alternatives, choosing the best alternative, trying it out, and then analyzing if it does work. In terms of chemical engineering, I think it's a very strong curriculum that has a vast amount of classes and expertise that some of the other engineering disciplines don't learn.

Q: Did you have a mentor while you were a student? And did you have one when you started working in this job?
Murphy: I think at the undergraduate level I looked to the faculty quite a bit. I had built up quite a rapport with the department head as well as some of the other faculty members, so I really listened to their opinions. Some of them had already worked in industry, which I think is important for faculty members to do, to be able to provide that perspective to the students as opposed to just at the collegiate level. I think the students feel that faculty are very research oriented, and they don't know what the real world's like. So I think that having faculty that had seen both sides was good for me. I think students look to each other to build that camaraderie and teamwork, so I relied on that as well. In terms of working at Chevron, when you start at the company, you're assigned to another engineer who actually serves as your official mentor and is able to show you how to even just maneuver around the refinery. It's a large place. How do I get from point A to point B? Who do I need to talk to? Who do I need to call to get that information? You're not going to come in with all the answers, but there's going to be somebody there that has some information that will be helpful to you. So I think I relied heavily on that person. And then even just your work group is a great resource, because your mentor is not always going to have time to spend with you and they're also not going to have all the expertise.

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